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Welcome

Hi. I'm Barbara Swafford and I'd like to welcome you to Blogging Without A Blog. Grab a seat, share your thoughts and join in the conversation.

P.S. The greatest value of this blog lies in the comment section where bloggers in all phases of the blogging journey open up and share their thoughts. Click on the post title to experience the full effect of each lesson.

When I’m writing a blog post, I often ramble on and before I know it, the post draft is pushing 1000 words.

That’s a lot of words for this blog considering my aim is to keep the posts short – 400 words +/-.

Although all of the writing does help me to get to the final message, those excess words may only sound like babbling to you.

Yawn, Yawn.

Hence, when I edit, I’m brutal.

Today’s Lesson

Most people think what happens in their life is pretty important. After all, it’s what they’re living.

For some, it’s baby steps toward a brighter future. For others, they may have slayed a demon. And yet for a few, their blog may be the only place where they feel they’re being heard. Word counts may not even be a consideration.

People want to share. People want to be heard.

Their story matters. At least to them.

And their hope may be it matters to others as well.

But…do others really care?

Or will they see it as a blogger rambling on?

I’ve read comments from both camps. Some will say, “get to the point”, “brevity rules”, whereas others thoroughly enjoy the story from beginning to end.

I know I am guilty of using an excessive amount of words. But I love language, I love description and sentence structure and what is a blog if not an expression of oneself. I think bloggers must blog how they want to. Yes, of course you must take your readers into consideration, but if you have something to say and there’s a) no quick of saying it or b) you don’t want to say it quickly, then use as many words as you like.

But if the blogger simply wants to make one point, one single point, yet takes a very long time doing it – padding their post out with over-elaborated information that does not add to the quality of the post in any way – then I think that’s a bit too far. And I guess that’s where editing comes in. That’s what I love about your posts, Barbara: they’re short, but they still make all the necessary points and you don’t do it an hurried manner. It feels natural.

Finally, my suggestion for a title: “How Many Words? The Blogger’s Conundrum”.

I do agree. As bloggers we shouldn’t feel we HAVE to keep our posts short, and for those like you who love language, blogging is giving you the opportunity to test your writing and word skills and with a blog, you can get feedback at the same time.

I am a fan of short and sweet (Unless the post is totally captivating and really well written). I read so many blogs (as I am sure most of your commentors do too) and love to read blogs that can inform or entrain me in a relatively short period of time. I will say, I do believe most bloggers feel this way…I don’t know too many bloggers that write long posts (or maybe I have chosen to follow blogs that are usually short and sweet!!!). Great post!

WOW. For once, I’m here early. I can’t believe it!!! I know the easy button would be to figure out your writing schedule and then being early or late wouldn’t be an issue. I like to guess:~)

I love Davina’s comment and all her titles, especially the one for you and the one from her:~)

Okay…now to business. A title you want. How about this one:

How Many Words to be Heard?

It even rhymes:~) I didn’t check, however, whether or not it’s a good keyword title. I imagine it’s not.

Regarding whether or not I think bloggers write too much…it pains to say this, but I’m known to have a higher than normal word count. It’s just how it works for me.

For me, as a reader, if a post is interesting and there’s adequate white space/subtitles, the number of words will not matter. On the other hand, if a post is a solid block of text with no breaks, I will struggle, even if the subject is great:~)

Hi B
Since my last post was about word pictures, I’ll have to go with..
“Prune it hard… or let it grow?”
But I rather like…
“A word in the hand.”

You do make a serious point about how long should a post be.
I sometimes look at the length of a post and just give up! Especially my own. LOL
I think that it’s important on a long post to break up the text with headings, graphics, quote boxes, lists etc – makes the task ahead look less daunting.

Big headings are great, they allow you to scan the post and read the bits that look interesting.
And… keep your text in a fairly narrow column, just like the newspapers do and you do here.

I confess. I’ve done that too – give up on long posts, but not yours. Yours I’ve come back to as I know they’re filled with value and I want to be fresh when I read them.

You know, I’ve never thought how a narrow column of text is easier to read, but it’s true. What I’ve had problems with is when a theme doesn’t have a fixed width and the writing goes from one side of my screen to the other. With the large screen I use with my PC, it’s very difficult to read. (Hmm – sounds like a topic for a future blog post)

This is a perfect example of “Keep your mouth shut”, now I should come up with a decent answer to the questions!

Post title: “Twitting or Babbling?”

Do you think bloggers are writing too much?

Not really, I believe it depends on what the blogger wants to say and how in deep he/she wants to go, some ideas can be written short and sweet while others need a more detailed explanation. I myself have written very short posts (24 words) and some longer ones (988 words)

Do readers get bored with long posts?

If the writing is engaging I say no, if it is boring and/or too personal, then probably yes and better then go for short and sweet. My take is that every blogger can find what works better for him/her based on the results and attention readers give throughout time and then adjust the length of the posts accordingly.

That’s a good point. If we pay attention to how our readers react, we may get a clue if long or short posts are working better on our blog. Some blogs do very well with lengthy posts, but I know on this blog, short gets better results.

I am not coming up with a title…will have to go and look up Keywords before I can make an attempt – to keep myself learning

I divide my 1,000-2,000 word essays into several posts…I am practicing keeping them to 500 words…but then one of your posts told me that even my words are too complex and too long..

ah me!..I will learn

I read every word of the posts that I am reading….When I am tired I want them to be short when I land there…but I am beginning to think seriously that the shorter the better KISS is hanging on my computer

That’s a fabulous idea of dividing up a long post into shorter ones. Not only does it give you more material to fall back on, but you’re able to tease your readers about what’s coming up next.

I’m trying to think of which post addresses complex words, and I’m guessing it’s the one where we discussed how some of us need to write at a lower grade level than we do. (based on our blog topic) in order to appeal to a broader audience.

“It’s Less Painful to Slay a Dragon Than to Sew Your Lips Together!” – and yes, some bloggers say to much. Slash and burn people, slash and burn. I’ve been too wordy in the past, and I’m working hard to fix that.

HI Barbara,
How does this sound?
“Quick fix or Big Fix? You Decide”
“Size Aint Just another Number”
“More for less or less for more?”
ok thats all I can think of off the top of my head…but the suggestion here are so awesome! I especially love Joellas and then I love Carolines “kiss” too!
What a fun post!
Lots of love to you my blogging genius teacher
Z~

Last week, I wrote a post about blog do’s and don’ts. I struggle with word count. Most of mine are under 1000, but I bet people would read them more thoroughly if they were closer to 500. Then again, I wouldn’t be able to get the emotional response as easily with less word count.

A few months ago, I wrote a guest post that had to be under 500 words. I thought I’d struggle, but I was able to do it.

Hi Barbara .. it does depend on our blogs – if your doing regular articles and want to get into a magazine or column .. then presumably the word count has to be down ..

Your subjects can be lengthy or can be short .. same as mine .. I’ve rambled on sometimes and thought oh dear .. but hit the post button and I get complimentary comments .. as I hit the button, thinking I shouldn’t publish .. I tell myself I’ll get compliments!

Naming the post:

“What do you Think? 400 or 1,000?

I love everyone’s ideas .. certainly a creative bunch around .. have a great weekend Hilary

That’s right. The title we use does depend on our blogs. For example, a reference type blog may not look very credible if they use a goofy sounding title. Whereas other blogs may appear too serious if their titles are always packed with SEO or keyword phrases.

“Bare or Florid: The Word Count Quandry”
I’m a florid writer. But, my webmaster tools have told me this over and over: no one wants to read a 700 word post. The Internet is a funny medium. People want to surf and absorb shallow knowledge very fast. They want to read the abstract not dissertation. They want to move on. Give ’em what they want or expect a smaller readership. People want bloggers personality in sparkling champagne sips, not thick malt gulps. Just MHO.

Chris
I think that you are probably right.
To add to your observation about shallow knowledge, I read somewhere that these days… “We know less and less about more and more.”
Love the “sparkling champagne sips”

Hi Barbara,
perhaps…”Inspired or Overwhelmed?” or “Words: Contentedly Full or Overstuffed?”… *love* the reader suggestions!
I tend to be wordy because I tell stories; my readers understand that about me and visit when they have time..I enjoy short simple posts that are a photo or a quote. I also enjoy wordy posts that tell a story or provide insight. It depends on how well written/presented it is…and I love the creativity within both options…

You made an good point. If we are writers who tell stories or share lengthy posts on a regular basis, our readers will know that. And as you said, will visit when they have time to absorb it all. So it’s not to say one way of writing is better than the other; we just need to be aware of our visitor’s reading habits.

1) Brevity Rules or Here Go Round the Mulberry Bush?
2) I think size depends on the function – solve a problem, make you think, make you feel, or just for fun. If it’s solve a problem, I think a good way to right-size is to scope it to a specific scenario or task.

Personally, I have low-tolerance for writing that doesn’t get to the point, unless it’s oustanding writing where each sentence entices you to read the next.

Great observation. Function often determines the length of a post. If we only want to get one point across, we should be able to accomplish that with less words. However, if we’re sharing a story or trying to solve a complex problem, word count may not be an issue.